Grammar News

Middle School

HAYDN FLANAGAN

Head of Middle School

 

Education Week

This week is National Education Week, and whilst every week is Education Week at Oakleigh Grammar, it would be remiss of me not to take the chance to promote education at every opportunity. As lifelong learners, we all should grasp every opportunity to learn and further develop our skills and knowledge, and to better ourselves in a process of continual growth.

 

At Oakleigh Grammar we encourage students to have a “Growth Mindset”. This mindset, championed by Carol Dweck, Ph.D. from Stanford University, describes those who believe that their abilities can be developed. That their abilities are not fixed and can be improved with effort. A student with a Growth Mindset will believe that they are not limited by ability, but are only limited by the effort they make to learn.

 

Considering an example of an assessment marked out of 10. Students with a Fixed Mindset will look at the six out of 10 and think, “that is the level of my ability, I cannot do much about that”. Students with a Growth Mindset will look at the six out of 10 and think, “that is my level of ability at the moment, but with effort and work, I can improve this”. This small change in mindset can have powerful results over the course of a lifetime, encouraging endless possibilities for life-long learning and personal growth.

 

Monastery Visit

Our Year 6 students travelled to Geelong on May 15th to visit the Greek Orthodox Monastery, Panagia Gorgoepikoos in Geelong, as part of their inquiry on monasticism, ‘Athletes for Christ’. During the excursion, students participated in a canon service to the Mother of God, and were given a talk by the Abbess. The students also had the chance to have lunch in and explore the monastery grounds on what was a beautiful afternoon.

 

Debating and Sporting Success

At our Middle and Senior School Assembly this week we had the opportunity to recognise some recent outstanding performances in representative debating and sports competitions.

 

The students who were recognised were:

Representative Debating

The following Year 9 students were all awarded as Best Speaker at the May 10th round of the Victorian Schools Debating competition held at Wesley College:

Mitchell Rocks

Angelica Athanasakis

Zena Makantasis 

Claudia Ciempka

 

Representative Sport

Michael Kaniadakis – Year 8 - For his individual performances in both the EISM Champions Athletics and Swimming Carnivals.

 

Jenna Menelaou and Jeremy Micallef - Year 11 - For their individual performances in the EISM Champions Swimming Carnival.

 

Georgianna Petridis - Year 7 – For her individual performance the EISM Champions Swimming Carnival.

 

Xaviar Harpur – Year 7, Max Teh-White – Year 9 and Alexandra Bonney – Year 10, for their individual performances in the EISM Champions Athletics Carnival.

 

NAPLAN

As with all Year 7 and 9 students around the country, last week our students undertook NAPLAN testing in the areas of Language Conventions, Reading, Writing and Numeracy. Our students are to be congratulated on the manner in which they conducted themselves during the examination period, and for the effort they invested. All we ask of students in any assessment is to try their best, and that is certainly what we saw in the Conference Centre throughout the week.

 

Uniform

A notice was sent home to parents last week as a reminder that students should be in appropriate uniform both at school, and when travelling to and from school. As with all aspects of our student’s education, we have high expectations in terms of student presentation when in uniform, and your support in maintaining these is appreciated.

 

General uniform expectations are:

  • Ties must be worn with the knot covering the fastened top button.
  • Shirts must always be tucked in.
  • Students must wear blazers to and from school.

Female Students:

  • The use of nail polish and makeup is not permitted at school.
  • Hair must be tied back.
  • Skirts must reach down to the knees.

Male students:

  • Hair must be cut above the collar.

Again, your support in encoraging an environment of excellence at Oakleigh Grammar and helping our students to be the best they can be, is appreciated.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

  • Wednesday 23rd May – Year 6 Family Life Session 1
  • Friday 25th May – Years 6 – 9 Brainstorm Productions Performance - Cyberia
  • Wednesday 30th May – Year 6 Family Life Session 2
  • Wednesday 30th May – A Night at the Theatre
  • Tuesday 5th June – Year 8 Science excursion
  • Wednesday 6th June - Year 6 Family Life Session 3
  • Friday 8th June – Report Writing Day - SCHOOL CLOSED
  • Monday 11th June – Queen’s Birthday - SCHOOL CLOSED
  • Tuesday 12th June – Middle School Assessment Week Examinations